December 2, First Sunday of Advent

Transcription

1 December 2, First Sunday of Advent Office Hours Monday Thursday: 8:30 am 3:00 pm; Friday 8:30 am 12 noon Celebration of the Eucharist Saturday: 4:00 pm Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 am Monday through Friday: 7:30 am Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturday: 3:00 3:30 pm and Weekdays: 7:15 am Baptisms Parents are encouraged to call the Church during pregnancy to avoid delays of the sacrament Weddings Arrangements must be made at least six months in advance to allow time for preparation 406 East Pinhook Road Lafayette, LA Phone: (337) Fax: (337) Rev. M. Keith LaBove, Pastor

2 Welcome to St. Patrick Church First Sunday of Advent December 2, 2012 MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK Saturday, December 1-- Vigil of the First Sunday of Advent 4:00 PM: Edna & Melba Parker; Louise Troyanowski; Mary Eve Alexander; John Van Fossen; Julius Ducote; August & Mildred Lanclos; Rudy Borel Sunday, December 2-- First Sunday of Advent 8:30 AM: Joseph & Eldie Woods; Sue Langlinais 10:00 AM: Parishioners of St. Patrick s Monday, December 3-- St. Francis Xavier, Priest 7:30 AM: Paulette Thibodeaux Tuesday, December 4-- St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church 7:30 AM: Joyce Hadley; Beverly Borcherding; Clifford Weilbaecher, Jr. Wednesday, December 5-- Advent Weekday (Msgr. Charles Mallet) 7:30 AM: Dr. Tommy Comeaux & Dorinne; Col. Clark Comeaux & Catherine (living); Col. Kimberly Fedele (living) Thursday, December 6-- St. Nicholas, Bishop 7:30 AM: Paulette Thibodeaux Friday, December 7-- St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 7:30 AM: Dr. Charles Stewart The Feast of the Immaculation Conception Next Saturday, December 8th, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a holyday of Obligation. Mass will be at 7:30 a.m. that Saturday morning. Non-Liturgical Devotions Daily Rosary: Monday - Friday 6:55 a.m. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Novena: Tuesday 7:15 a.m. Rosary for Priests: Wednesday 7:00 a.m. Chaplet of Divine Mercy: Thursday 7:15 a.m. Pro-Life Rosary: First Friday of the month 7:00 a.m. Shamrocks Friday, December 7: Gloria Boudreaux; Maggie Sonnier; Stephanie Bacque; Josette Delahoussaye; Charlotte Privat Next First Friday: Dec. 7th, 2012 Topic: Christ Present in His Church Youth Outreach St. Patrick's is happy to be offering a youth program for the four Sundays of Advent. Beginning December 2 nd Pizza at St. Pat's will be held from 4 to 5:30 on Sunday afternoons in the Parish Hall. All young people of our parish, ages 11 through 16, are invited to share in food, fun, and the Word of God! Registration flyers are available at the back of the church. Please complete and return the bottom portion to the church office by November 30 th. Also, we are looking for adults 17 and older to become a part of our Youth Ministry team. If you love the Lord and want to help our young people to get to know Him, please call the office at We ask for the prayers of our entire parish.

3 Annual Christmas Social Our Christmas Social will take place on Sunday, December 16th, 11:00 a.m. Mark your calendars. This is an opportunity to fellowship and enjoy great food; please plan on attending. More information to come soon. Make this a Meaningful Holiday Heifer Project Instead of material gifts, choose gifts that help struggling families lift themselves out of poverty. By giving families in need a hand-up, not just a hand-out, they can be empowered to turn a life of hunger and poverty into one of self-reliance and independence. With the gifts of livestock and training, families are helped to improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. In exchange for receiving their animal and training in its care, each family agrees to give one of its animal s offspring to another family in need. It s called Passing on the Gift and it means the gift you make this Christmas Season to Heifer International will actually multiply many times with every new generation. Our church will be participating in this special endeavor as a Christmas Project. Donation sheets are available under the stairwell. All donations will be sent to Heifer International at the beginning of the year. Heifer International meets the BBB Wise Giving Alliance s Standards for Charity Accountability. For additional information please visit their website: http// Holy Hour for Vocations Please join us for our monthly Holy Hour for Vocations and the Spiritual Renewal of All Priests on Monday, December 3, from 6:00 7:00 p.m., at St. Patrick Church. Bishop Michael Jarrell will lead the prayers. Bishop Jarrell was installed as Bishop of Lafayette on December 18, 2002, so this year marks his 10th. Anniversary as Bishop of Lafayette. Please join in as we offer prayers of gratitude for his service as Bishop of Lafayette. For those who want extra time in prayer, recitation of the Rosary will begin at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend and pray for vocations and perseverance of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, sponsored by the Serra Club of Lafayette. Food for the Journey The Central Region of the Diocese of Lafayette presents Food for the Journey, a monthly lunchtime speaker series designed to help Catholics live out our faith in our daily lives. The speaker will be Rev. Floyd Calais, Retired Priest of the Diocese of Lafayette. Food for the Journey will be held on Tuesday, December 4, at Crown Plaza Hotel, 1801 W. Pinhook Rd., beginning at about 12:00 noon. An optional buffet lunch is available at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $12.00 and includes meal, drink and tip. All are welcome come eat and be fed - please bring a friend. Pre-registration is not required. For more information, please call Mary Bergeron ( ). First Fridays A Year of Faith Mark your calendars now, and join us for our First Fridays for a Year of Faith. The next gathering is on Friday, December 7th., at 6 pm. Fr. Keith will lead us in a Holy Hour of Adoration, which will include silent prayer, readings for reflection and teaching. The topic for this month will be Christ Present in His Church. Flyers on the entire series are still available at the entrance of the Church. The Light is On For You In addition to our normal Saturday and weekday confession times, our parish and all the Catholic parishes of the Diocese will be open on Advent Wednesdays (Dec. 5, 12 & 19) from 6:30-8:00 p.m for confessions. Please take advantage of this opportunity to make a good Advent confession. The green brochure on the table near the church entrance has guidance on how to prepare for and go to confession. Give Us This Day If you have not done so, pick up your book of Advent Reflections from the table near the main doors. Give Us This Day is a monthly publication, available by individual subscription, and offers much more than our usual reflection booklets, including Mass readings, morning and evening prayer and more. If you find the December issue useful, please consider subscribing for the year. Subscription info is available at the back of each issue. For Survivors of Violence A special Mass for survivors of violence will be held on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012 at 2:00 p.m, with a reception to follow. Bishop Michael Jarrell will be the celebrant of the Mass to be celebrated at Immaculata Chapel, 1408 Carmel Drive, Lafayette, Louisiana. Fire Fund Our Lady Queen of Peace Fire Fund Art Auction is on line from December 6-16th., with over 100 items available prices range from $10 up Parish Advent Mission Central Region St. Bernard Catholic Church, 204 N. Main St., Breaux Bridge, LA Parish Advent Mission, December 4, 5, 6 7:00-8:15 p.m. in Church. Presenter: Rev. Jerry Mesley, St. Elizabeth Seton Church, Lafayette. For more information, please call Nadine Cain ( ). STEWARDSHIP OF THE PAST WEEK Our Response to God s Generosity to Us Offertory.$ 3, Thanksgiving Day (U.C.O) $ Thank You!

4 Date Saturday, December 8 4:00 p.m. Liturgical Roles for December 2012 Sunday, December 9 8:30 a.m. Lectors Janell Venable Melinda Voorhies Karen Begnaud Sunday, December 9 10:00 a.m. Eucharistic Ministers Candis Thompson Rosalind Allen George Eaton Sandra LaGrange Susan Cain Kay Hampton Leroy Abshire Karen Abshire Debra Carroll Server Harold Guilbeau Glenn LaGrange Nicholas Begnaud Ushers Oren Spruill Joyce Stelly Keith Toups Rachelle Trahan Lionel Jeanmard Joyce Stelly Readings for the Week Monday Is 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-9; Mt 8:5-11 Tuesday Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Lk 10:21-24 Wednesday Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6; Mt 15:29-37 Thursday Is 26:1-6; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a; Mt 7:21, Friday Is 29:17-24; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; Mt 9:27-31 Saturday Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38 Sunday Bar 5:1-9; Ps 126:1-6; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Lk 3:1-6 From the Pastor s Desk Get them before they re gone. Supplies are limited. This coupon expires. Sale ends at midnight. Only 16 Doorbusters in stock. When they re gone, they re gone. One per customer. Today only. These were the kinds of marketing messages that were floating around the end of Thanksgiving week. Without a doubt, this approach contributes greatly to the success of Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. There was a sense of urgency about the whole thing. I have to get it today, because it won t be there tomorrow, at least not at that price. So the crowds were lined up, in the wee hours of the morning, and even the night before as unfortunately, Black Friday extended its tentacles into the evening of Thanksgiving Day. I m not sure how much of that urgency is real, nor if it is really a good thing. But I do know that it is hard to maintain that sense of urgency for a long time. It gets old. There s almost a sense of relief when the moment has passed and one can finally relax! I thought of all that because our Scripture readings at Mass for this time of the year have their own sense of urgency as well. We are told to be alert and watchful, so that the coming days will not catch us unawares. The call to repentance and conversion is about right now, not next week, all because of the coming day of judgment. On the other hand, we did hear basically the same message last year, as well as the year before. How long can we maintain this sense of urgency? Probably not for very long. And there are all the cares and duties of daily life that need to be attended to. Sometimes getting the electric bill paid does seem a bit more urgent. If all our anticipation is focused purely on the end times, the second coming of Jesus and the end of the world, then we will probably become tired of it rather quickly. The Church has been waiting for Jesus to return for 2000 years, we don t have a date for that event, and it may be thousands of more years before it happens. Yet the urgency of Advent can still serve us well. You see, there is an opportunity being offered to us that will not come again. That is simply the opportunity to experience God in our lives today. This is the only chance we will have for that. And yesterday s opportunities are gone. Perhaps it will be an opportunity to be of service, or the offer of a new insight into our own motives and yearnings. Perhaps it will be a moment of clarity about the depths of God s love. Perhaps today will offer a moment when we really believe the promise of redemption. And all of that is truly, Today only.

5 You are Invited Please come and experience Christ s Healing & Saving Love Our parish and all the parishes and chapels of the Diocese of Lafayette will be open for individual confessions on all the Wednesday s of Advent from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Please make plans to come on Advent Wednesdays and spread the word of this special outreach of mercy to those you know. Every Parish of the Diocese of Lafayette Wednesdays in Advent 6:30-8:00 p.m. December 5, 12, and Diocese of Lafayette The Light is On For You

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